A court filling between Apple and Samsung brought into the open the photos of the first iPad which was a prototype called 035, unveiling that Steve Jobs was developing the iPad years before it appeared on the market. Except the size of the prototype tablet, the differences are few. Still, there is a feature that the early iPad had and that was recently adopted by Microsoft’s Surface.

According to Apple design chief, Jonathan Ive, the photos with the iPad mockup date to the early 2000’s, somewhere between 2002 and 2004. Ive unveiled the photos during a patent lawsuit between Apple and Samsung. You can take a glance at the entire collection of photos on iOnApple.

Buzzfeed comes with new color photos that compare the iPad 2 with 035. The display of the prototype is much larger, measuring about 12 inches and has a taller profile that measures 1 inch thickness. There’s no doubt that the mockup was way heavier than today’s iPad. The back and the front look almost similar to that of the iPad and even the Apple logo is present.

There is an interesting feature that the mockup has had and that, for some reasons Apple gave up to, namely the perimeter venting. This aired perimeter surrounding the edges was aimed to keep the tablet cooler and was adopted by Microsoft for its “iPad killer,” Surface. A little paradoxically, isn’t it?

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